[QUIDDITCH]: Hufflepuff – Game 3

 
 
 
 

-          Remember the skill levels of each dummy and RPG according to it, you’ll be judged on it.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Katie stepped out of the changing rooms and onto the field and immediately wished she hadn't. It was boiling out. Now, Katie knew she had a bit of a flair for the over-exaggeration but she knew she wasn't being dramatic this time. It was blisteringly hot outside. She looked up at the sky hoping to see some cloud coverage on it's way or some semblance of wind, but was sorely disappointed. 

Sighing to herself, and wishing Hogwarts had a summer wardrobe that was just shorts and a tank top, she walked out onto the pitch, trying to pretend the heat wasn't bothering her.

Let's just focus on the game, shall we?

"Chaser," Katie called, and a dummy vanished.

She looked upwards toward the players to see the kind of challenge she'd be facing. An immense flooding of relief washed over her as she noticed the "A"s on the beaters. After the amount of bruises she sustained from the last game (some of them which still hadn't gone away!), having some under qualified beaters was a welcome sight. The keepers were also displaying "A"s, which boosted Katie's confidence significantly, especially once she noticed the chaser dummies were wearing "P" jerseys. Even if they didn't win, at least Katie would be getting lots of action! 

She had a brief vision of herself pulling off the Dionysus Dive before snapping herself back into reality. She hadn't even attempted that stunt in practice, no way she'd be able to stand on her broom and balance while throwing the Quaffle successfully for the first time in a real game without breaking her neck.

Katie walked out into the middle of the pitch, sweating profusely. At least soon she'd be in the air, and there'd have to be a breeze once she was flying! She kicked off the ground, ready to feel that good old breeze....and just felt hot air. Katie shook her head in disbelief. Not even the wind from flying was cool! 

Wiping sweat from her eyes, Katie scanned the pitch for the Quaffle and was ecstatic to see it in the hands of one of the Hufflepuff dummies, not too far away. Katie leaned forward on her broom and sped off in that direction. She could see the other Hufflepuff dummy swerving around a poorly aimed bludger not far off. 

Katie got in line with the the Hufflepuff dummy with the Quaffle. She looked around and saw the opposing chasers closing in on them.

"Porskoff Ploy," she called over to the friendly dummy, before dropping down a bit below.

The Hufflepuff dummy flew up into the air higher, enemy dummies following the Quaffle up.

They were nearing the goal rings, it was now or never. 

The dummy must have known that, too, because without warning it dropped the Quaffle directly below, falling straight down towards Katie.

Katie reached for the Quaffle and tried to grab it. Her sweaty hands made it difficult to grab onto properly, and it almost slipped through her fingers as she scrambled for a hold. Just in time she was able to get a proper grip; she was directly in front of the keeper now, who was hovering around the center ring.

Faking to the left, Katie tossed the Quaffle straight towards the right-most ring. The dummy took the bait and dived to the left, allowing the Quaffle to soar right through the ring.

"Goal!" she heard the announcer call and heard the roar of the Hufflepuff crowd.

Smiling to herself, she did a victory loop before heading back out into the fray.

Katie was out of breath, trying to ignore the sun beating down on her back and just focus on the game, but it was definitely a challenge. It didn't help that the chasers were out of her league, forcing her to really push herself in order to keep up. The plays were moving faster than anything she'd ever participated before, and she felt like every time she caught up, the Quaffle would go the other way.

She heard a gasp from the crowd and turned to see one of the Seeker dummies diving for what could only be the snitch. Please let it be the Hufflepuff dummy. The other dummy seeker was catching up to the seeker in the dive. They were neck in neck. At this point, Katie didn't care who got the snitch, she was so hot. She'd rather be jumping into the Great Lake right now, even it meant a swim with the giant squid. Katie let out a frustrated growl as she heard the audience groan; the seekers had been too busy jostling, allowing the snitch to get away. It looked like the game wouldn't be ending anytime soon.

The other chasers hadn't stopped moving like she had, and she could see the two Hufflepuff chasers struggling against being ganged up on by the three opposing chasers. While they were easily dodging the bludgers being lobbed in their general direction, the other chasers kept surrounding the dummy with the Quaffle and stealing it back.

Katie shot off in their direction to try and help them. It didn't take long to catch them as they were coming her way. Katie blocked the chaser with the Quaffle who easily passed it to their other dummy chaser who continued on. Katie spun around and chased after them, followed closely by her fellow chasers.

The two dummies split off to cover the other enemies dummies, so Katie would have a clear shot at wrestling the Quaffle from the other team without risk of them throwing it away to a teammate.

Katie pushed her broom even harder, she was almost in line with the enemy chaser, but they were getting dangerously close to the Hufflepuff goal post. The Hufflepuff keeper was covering the left most goal post, leaving the middle and right wide open. If Katie couldn't catch this chaser, there was a good chance the opposing team was going to score.

Finally, Katie was in line with the chaser and began jostling for the Quaffle. Out of desperation as they crossed into the scoring area, Katie threw an elbow into the dummy, which didn't drop the Quaffle.

Katie heard the whistle behind her.

"Cobbing!" yelled Madam Hooch. "Penalty shot to the opposing team."

Katie swore under her breath as she heard jeering rise up from the stadium. Evidently the Hufflepuffs weren't pleased.

Katie watched hopelessly as she watched the "P" chaser easily lob the Quaffle into the goal post, while the "A" keeper flailed trying to reach it.

HUFFLEPUFF CHASER

Katie was still fuming from what she thought was a pretty unfair penalty. Everyone elbows in Quidditch! It wasn't like she'd done it excessively! Between that and the heat, which was making her feel a bit faint, she was definitely having trouble concentrating on the game.

This was bad news for the Hufflepuff team since the beaters and keepers weren't particularly good, but the chasers certainly were. This meant Katie was most definitely bringing the whole team down, as she struggled to keep up with the fast paced action happening on the field. Without a good beater to help the chasers, the Hufflepuff chasers were definitely feeling the pressure.

It's not fair, the dummies can't feel heat! Katie complained to herself, swatting sweaty hair out from her eyes.

She was hot on the tails of the enemy chasers, leaning tightly over her broom for added speed. She was underneath the dummy with the Quaffle, while her fellow two chasers were on either side, leaving little room for escape. The three of them were rotating frequently, blocking the other two opposing chasers from giving aid to their teammate.

They were nearing the Hufflepuff goal post now, so they'd have to make their move soon to get the Quaffle back, or risk another shot on goal. The enemy chaser had put on another burst of speed, trying to lose the Hufflepuff chasers. Katie growled in frustrated and urged her broom on faster, ignoring the sweat that was now dripping into her eyes.

Growing impatient, Katie charged the enemy chaser from below, pushing her broom harder and harder as she pulled up, trying to intercept the chaser. While this didn't quite work, Katie managed to clip the Quaffle with an outstretched hand just enough for the enemy chaser to pull back....straight into the waiting arms of the other Hufflepuff chasers who wrestled it away, and shot off back towards the enemy posts.

Smug, but exhausted, Katie turned around and followed suit, weaving around the other chasers trying to get open for a pass.

HUFFLEPUFF CHASER

Katie felt exhilarated. She didn't even mind (so much) the intense heat anymore, as she had finally gotten into her groove. While she was still behind what the professional chasers were doing (who even knew you could change directions that fast?) and definitely not anywhere near their level, she was beginning to understand their rhythm and tactics a bit more, which was allowing her to participate in some of the plays.

Half the time she still felt like she was in practice doing some extreme version of the quick toss drill the Hufflepuff team always did, where the players are all stationary and tossing the Quaffle back and forth as quickly as possible. Only in this version, you were moving at high speeds, and had to predict where you and other player were going to be by the time you throw the Quaffle.

It was intense but intoxicating.

Katie could see two chasers closing in on her teammate with the Quaffle so she sped forward, looping around the back so they didn't see her coming up behind them to block her. As she neared, she suddenly swerved around him, opening up enough space for her teammate to throw the Quaffle before the enemy dummy on his right could fight for the Quaffle. Katie sped forward towards the scoring zone, passing the Quaffle back to her teammate, who threw it in the air, and spun around, hitting it with the back end of its broomstick. The dummy seeker dove to stop it, but was too late.

Hufflepuff had scored.